Rants of a tired Sheriff

Support is a verb. You demonstrate it with your vote. Anything else is just a hollow platitude.

These are certainly challenging times. We are experiencing civil unrest, wild land fires, and a pandemic that has not only impacted the economy but the very fiber of society. Folks are stressed and isolated. The emotional and mental health of many people is buckling. Many people are in crisis.

Throughout all of this, our team at the Placer County Sheriff’s Office has performed with professionalism, composure and compassion. They leave their families to ensure that everyone else’s are safe. Everyone from our support staff, dispatchers, evidence techs and correctional officers do a tremendous job! I’m proud of all of them but the following comments are specific to the sworn peace officers.

I believe the biggest challenge for public safety is yet to come. The challenge will be political. There have always been those who openly oppose law enforcement. They are easily identified. My concern is elsewhere. There are politicians and bureaucrats who profess to support our peace officers. They do so very publicly. They do so because they know the vast majority of the voters support peace officers and their mission. Their words indicate support; however, their votes would indicate otherwise.

Recruitment and retention has traditionally been a challenge for law enforcement administrators. Being a peace officer is a calling. Few are called. Even fewer are qualified. The national standard indicates it takes 100 applicants to hire a single peace officer. Recruitment is a challenge. This has impacted my office as well. As an example, we have a position titled “deputy sheriff trainee.” In essence, we select and send the candidate to the police academy while paying their salary. It is, essentially, a full ride scholarship. As you can imagine, the position has been very popular. In the past, the position would open and close within an hour because over 400 folks would apply in just a few minutes. We recently opened this test up. It was open for two weeks. We had 78 applications. History tells me we might identify 3 candidates. Is it any wonder? The national narrative regarding peace officers has denigrated the position for over a decade. The high school and college students of today have witnessed the national narrative on police their entire lives. They are choosing other professions.

Politicians are making things worse. In the zeal to reform the profession, the tools necessary to do the job are slowly being stripped away. Use of force incidents are viewed with the benefit of hindsight and criticized. In Sacramento, there is currently propose legislation that would define a citizen as unarmed if the weapon they are holding is unloaded. Think about that. How, other than waiting for a muzzle flash, is an officer to know a firearm is unloaded?!! This puts officers in the position of having to be shot at in order to avoid the accusation of shooting an “unarmed” suspect. Who thinks that is a tenable standard? Do you think legislation like this might impact the retention of current officers?

We have all seen terrible incidents unfold in which officers have dishonored the badge. Can we be better? Of course. We all support high hiring standards, improved equipment and improved training. We must have vetted, highly qualified, equipped, and trained officers to face the challenges of today and the future. Additionally, I’d like folks to consider context. Each day, nearly 700,000 peace officers hit the streets. If each officer has only 3 contacts, that’s 2,100,000 contacts every...single...day. The VAST majority of these contacts go superbly. It only takes one to stoke unrest. Finally, consider this. Police will kill 700-800 suspects a year. The VAST majority of these will be armed and actively resisting arrest. On average 160-200 peace officers will be killed annually while protecting their community. In contrast, the medical profession will kill in excess of 100,000 people each year due to medical malpractice. I don’t present this to diminish the deaths. It is tragic when anyone is killed; however, it does provide perspective.

To be blunt, I’m growing weary of politicians who “support” our men and women who pin on a badge and face the worst that society can offer. “Support” isn’t a stance you take during the election cycle. “Support” is a verb. It requires that you do something beyond platitudes and photo ops. Support means actively listening to what cops are experiencing. It means providing the funding, training, tools and solid codified law so they can be effective. This doesn’t mean there’s no accountability. All of this leads to a qualified and competent agency and, I can assure you, good cops want bad cops out of the profession. The bad cops erode community confidence and make our job more difficult.

We, in Placer County, are blessed. We have excellent agencies providing outstanding service. My deputies are among the best in the state. They are motivated and provide outstanding service. I have a hiring standard that nearly everyone in the hiring process understands. “Never settle for mediocrity.” The community deserves better. The deputy in the next beat over deserves better. Because of this standard, we enjoy broad community support. We know it’s fragile and will do everything we can to safeguard it.

There are things outside of our control. Politicians; support your peace officers. I don’t just mean the agency. I mean the men and women who go out and face challenges that the rest of society is unable or unwilling to handle.

Support is a verb. You demonstrate it with your vote. Anything else is just a hollow platitude.

Sheriff Devon Bell